From the Editor – September 2010

Many Latina/o theologians have insisted that lived daily experience — lo cotidiano — in all its complexity is among the key sources for theological reflection. From machismo to telenovelas, from social networking to art along the border between the U.S. and Mexico, different dimensions of lived daily experience have found a place in the studies that have appeared in this journal. Vincent Olea’s article, “‘Out of Cariño:’ Toward a Theology of Fighting Observed in

U.S. Hispanic Youth in East Los Angeles,” opens a door into an especially challenging aspect of the lived daily experience of young people in Boyle Heights, California. Olea has worked passionately for nearly twenty years as a director of youth ministry serving young people in Catholic parishes in San Diego and Los Angeles, most recently accompanying inner-city Hispanic youth at Dolores Mission in Boyle Heights, Ca. Continuing his development of a narrative approach to inner-city youth ministry, Vince is currently laying the groundwork for a non-profit organization in Los Angeles called The Center for Story and the Arts. The article we present in the Journal of Hispanic / Latino Theology spotlights his interest in giving voice to the narratives embedded in actions such as fighting, and the promotion of a critical dialogue between these narratives and the future of pastoral juvenil.  

In his contribution to this journal, Néstor Medina (author of Mestizaje: [Re]mapping Race, Culture, and Faith in Latina/o Catholicism [Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2009]) turns our attention to the implications of Orlando Espín’s theology of culture—and especially his attention to the place of the Spirit—for the nascent dialogue between Latino/a Catholics and Pentecostals. This contribution by Medina (who earned his Ph.D. at St. Michael’s in Toronto, Canada) takes another step forward in advancing the ecumenical dimension of Latino/a theologies. This is a project in which Espín himself is deeply invested, and it bore fruit in the volume he edited, entitled Building Bridges, Doing Justice: Constructing a Latino/a Ecumenical Theology (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2009).